Local activist blames current Detroit woes on "natural slaves"

[hortonz]

Racial problems have plagued every major city in Canada and the United States to some degree. Deep racial and ethnic divisions didn't stop New York or Los Angeles from prospering. The difference between those cities and Detroit is that NY and LA have always had diversified economies that could withstand the fluctuating price of gasoline.

[mwilbert]

Detroit's problems have everything to do with oil politics. In the late 1960's, oil production in the continental United States peaked and quickly began to decline. By the time of the first Arab oil embargo in 1973, over one third of all oil used by the United States came from foreign nations, primarily Saudi Arabia. Why doesn't this fact come up in any discussions on Detroit's decline.

Because Detroit's decline predates that, as industrial production moved out of the city and state.

Because foreign competition and outsourcing in auto production was almost certainly a bigger reason for the decline of auto industry employment than oil prices.

Because the massive increase in manufacturing productivity worldwide has caused manufacturing employment to drop everywhere.

No doubt Detroit would be a bit better off if oil prices had stayed lower or if the auto manufacturers had responded the the resulting demand for smaller cars more quickly, but I think it is hard to defend oil as a major cause of the decline.

[canuck]

Racial problems have plagued every major city in Canada and the United States to some degree. Deep racial and ethnic divisions didn't stop New York or Los Angeles from prospering. The difference between those cities and Detroit is that NY and LA have always had diversified economies that could withstand the fluctuating price of gasoline.

Los Angeles has deep racial divisions as you mention but a diversified economy that can help it overcome severe periods of economic downturns, like the defense industry attrition of the early nineties. But also, a number of judicious decisions about building better transit gave the city a new push forward, a new pride.

[Rolfsy]

'Ancient Occasic [[sp?) Memory'. This was where it went from an interesting rant with flimsy causality yet flashes of insight, and right into crazytown.

It would seem easier to explain 'slave mentality' passed down as a maladaptive meme rather than get into some Serpentor-style understanding of DNA.

[canuck]

'Ancient Occasic [[sp?) Memory'. This was where it went from an interesting rant with flimsy causality yet flashes of insight, and right into crazytown.

It would seem easier to explain 'slave mentality' passed down as a maladaptive meme rather than get into some Serpentor-style understanding of DNA.

Assolutely.

I think his rant is the product of a lot of anger directed at the wrong target group. Trying to find one guilty party at all costs will just further exacerbate the ghettoization.

The business enterpreneurship or education in the black community is deficient for a lot of reasons, but not only due to a certain group of migrants in a given period.

[Wesley Mouch]

Well, first because a drawn out bankruptcy will likely cripple the credit ratings of every municipality in our vicinity. Translation: Higher taxes for suburbanites. And why should they pay the extra cost for a fire that we refused to put out. Yes, I agree that the state made decisions that were harmful for us. But, so much of what we're going through has been preventable for years. Just like what was going on with GM and Ford. My employer at a SELL rating on the Big 3 back in 1998. Second -- and I subscribe to this -- the sooner we get through the pain, the sooner we can get to the rebuilding.

Now I'm open to hearing why a bankruptcy would better for Detroiters. I haven't heard anyone make that argument...not even those who are most vocally against an EM/EFM/Consent Agreement.

It's my opinion that a bankruptcy is like a long, drawn out, bloody war...where no one ends up getting what they want. The EM will be hard, harsh, but quick...with many more survivors.

CTY, I think bankruptcy would be better precisely because it has fewer 'survivors'.

I believe that the City of Detroit is riddled with so many problems that the more thorough the purge, the better for the residents in the future.

EFM or even worse, the Consent Agreement serve to reduce pain, and therefore solve fewer problems.

'No one should get what they want'. They should get what they deserve.

[[btw, I thought the same about GM. Take it down completely. More pain short term, but better for country and industry overall.)

[corktownyuppie]

CTY, I think bankruptcy would be better precisely because it has fewer 'survivors'.

I believe that the City of Detroit is riddled with so many problems that the more thorough the purge, the better for the residents in the future.

EFM or even worse, the Consent Agreement serve to reduce pain, and therefore solve fewer problems.

'No one should get what they want'. They should get what they deserve.

[[btw, I thought the same about GM. Take it down completely. More pain short term, but better for country and industry overall.)

I can understand where your coming from, even if I don't share your conclusion. The problem is, "How do we get from point A to point B"? There is no simple way to take the whole thing down completely. You think the drama surrounding the City Council debate was a circus? A bankruptcy process would be like that multiplied by a factor of 1,000. Every single decision in the bankruptcy court is subject to due process after due process after due process. Look at Matty Moroun and the court order about the contract with MDOT. The original court order ruling in favor of MDOT is over 5 years old. Now imagine going through that process with every part of the municipal restructuring process.

So, yes, I agree in the idea of more pain in the short term in exchange for a better long term. I guess we'll agree to disagree on the best choice to get us there. I admit that all the debate in my mind is conceptual. We'll just have to see how this actually takes place in practice.

[GUSHI]

Fix Detroit-have parents get involved in their kids lives,
natural slaves? Blame the white man for everything, our city wtf white on black racism would cause for the city to burn,
Black on white racism, no big Fu Ken deal,
The way people think is fuk Ed up,
-black on black crime no big deal, another brother killing a brother, is that the white mans fault,
-kids shooting kids, infants getting killed, the old getting killed, the good citizen moving out, who's left the old and the broke,
Detroit is fucked, you have to embrace the change, not fight it,